Driving through Big Sur on Hwy. 1 is still tough as cleanup continues

A large landslide and a separate road collapse on Highway 1 continue to make it difficult for people to get from Cambria to Carmel and Monterey.

People can drive as far north as Big Sur from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, according to Caltrans, but walking with an escort at two specific times a day is the only way to get from just north of Big Sur through another closed area of the road.

The agency says that, because cleanup work is continuing on a large slide of mud and rocks near Alder Creek, the area from Ragged Point and Lucia will be closed north- and southbound overnight from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The scenic highway continues to be closed in both directions further north because a section of roadway slid into the sea and the hillside continues to be unstable. Caltrans said that, at Rocky Creek, pedestrians are being escorted through a half-mile section twice daily, at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Bicyclists may walk their bikes through the closure during these escort periods. People are asked to park cars in the Bixby Creek/Old Coast Road turnout at the south end and in the Rocky Creek Bridge turnout at the north end.

Never miss a local story.

Sign up today for unlimited digital access to our website, apps, the digital newspaper and more.

Monterey-Salinas Transit is providing limited bus service from Rocky Creek into the Monterey area.

Crews continue working on both closure sites. Caltrans is estimating late April to be the earliest that vehicles will be given limited access on the northbound lane of the highway, and there’ll be a temporary traffic-signal there.